


(Zeus and Hera’s ‘Epic Snark Battles’ presents...) "The Great Face-Off"

by touchstoneaf



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/F, F/M, also IO OLYMPUS, and also maybe a bout of insanity, and social-distancing, because cabin fever, blame covid, i don't do fluff, i need snuggles lol, or at least not till the chars earn it, so i have no clue wtf y'all, so this counts as worship, the Greek Gods own me, with a lot of angst first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/touchstoneaf/pseuds/touchstoneaf
Summary: (Between “Listening To Fear” and “Into the Woods”)Spike is in love.  Buffy is in a relationship.Spike is irritated.  Buffy is unsatisfied.Spuffy are tiffing. Tara is uncomfortable.And the Gods are watching.With popcorn.
Relationships: Harmony Kendall/Spike, Riley Finn/Buffy Summers, Spike/Buffy Summers, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris/Anya Jenkins
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	(Zeus and Hera’s ‘Epic Snark Battles’ presents...) "The Great Face-Off"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [talesofstories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesofstories/gifts).



> **Story Notes:** So… this was an accident. Talesofstories and I were just yakking together in another story thread, and laughing about stuff, and then…  
> Well.  
> And then I didn’t find another challenge I liked for EF's challenge-month; and then wolf_shadoe showed up and was like, ‘But, I wanna hear that one!’, and then…  
> So, anyway…  
> This is the most stupidly lighthearted thing I’ve probably ever written in my LIFE. It’s complete, unapologetic fluff. I didn’t even know I knew how to NOT have angst in a fic.  
> Hell... I didn't know I could do a one-shot.  
> This is out-of-character and bizarre.  
> Dammit.
> 
>  **Formatting Note:** For anyone who’s never read me before, I do a weird thing. Or, at least, it’s weird nowadays. I use an old fanfic convention from long ago because I'm ancient, and we didn't used to have access to italics in the days when I used to fic. Can't break the habit now, I'm just too old and it looks weird for me without it. Character thoughts look like this in my stories: /Blah blah blah./
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** All characters property of Joss Whedon, damn his brilliant, confusing soul. And Mutant Enemy. And apparently some people at, I guess, Fox, now? (Who can even keep track anymore. I’m still half-stuck in the WB/CW/UPN confusion.) All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, yadda and blah. (OCs if any are MINE, ALL MINE!) I am in no way associated with Joss, Mutant Enemy, UPN, Fox, or any other media franchise. I intend no infringement. I intend sexy shenanigans and JUSTICE FOR SPUFFY!  
> Oh. And the Greek Gods? I belong to them, or at least a great number of them.
> 
>  **Pairing(s):** Um, Spuffy. Always, Spuffy is endgame. Currently, though, Biley, unfortunately, cuz canon (though I try to pretend it’s not there, lol). Also Tillow, Xanya, etc canon pairings up to S5.
> 
>  **Rating:** PG in this case, for a change. I know; who knew I could do PG!
> 
>  **Author’s Note / Dedication:** This one’s for talesofstories, for co-coming-up-with-the-idea with me in a sort of off-the-cuff meta-convo in the middle of a feedback-y rant in another story thread. Your enthusiasm was catching, so you’re to blame, Tales!
> 
>  **Special Thanks To:** beta-extraordinaire wolf_shadoe for not only beta-ing, but also for coming up with the challenge so I could fit this one in in April (or, really, for joining Tales in bullying me into doing this story in April, lol) because I wasn’t finding another challenge that I wanted to do, and I was all, ‘I really don’t have time for another story anyway, yadda’, and wolf_shadoe was like, ‘Ok, but no, because I wanna hear this one as much as Tales does, so here. I wrote a challenge for it. Now you must write it!’  
> Sneaky punk; you’re equally to blame.

_ You will not touch her. That one is mine.  _

** Zeus gazed down at the lovely, curvaceous young sorceress in the velvet green gown. **

_ How could I, my wife? She is a child of Athena, and of Artemis, of Apollo, and chosen of Hecate. _

** Hera’s lips thinned. **

_ And of mine. Do not forget. _

** As if he would dare, and court disaster yet again. Things did well at this time. No need to put his wife’s proud back up; not especially when this one… would not be amenable. **

_ I would not.  _

** Zeus’ eyes traveled to the far side of the apothecary’s shop, where the Son of Night and the Huntress in Darkness stood, arms crossed and glaring with flames in their eyes. **

_ But what of those, Beloved? Aha, see how they spit and snarl at one another. _

** He reached out, playfully; tried for a fondle of her rear, to tug her into his lap. **

_ Does it not make one proud to know they are ours? _

** His glorious wife batted away his advances with a roll of her eyes… but she followed his gaze. **

** And huffed in irritation. **

_ I despair of making them see it. That they belong. _

** Zeus smiled; a small, secretive smile, carefully hidden behind the stroking of his beard.  **

_ Perhaps. Perhaps, my beauty. But it is in the battle that they find surcease. They will learn, as we did. _

** Hera was not mollified. She wore her look of determination.  **

_ Mayhap. But until then they will find no other solace. Not in any other bed.  _

** Her mouth tightened.  ** _ Nor after. _

** And, reaching out to pierce the veil, she placed an object near to the feuding pair; just there, between them and the portal that was the exit from the space. **

_ Oho! A token, is it? _

** His wife had calmed to stillness; to certitude. **

_ Right before them, yes. That they might resolve among them that they are mine. _

** Time, perhaps, for a word of caution. **

_ The Son of Night belongs to Aphrodite, my love. She might become cross, should you attempt to steal him. The Huntress, also a Guardian, and Athene’s true child… save in her loins. _

** He could not help the proud smile that came to him when he admitted the last.  ** _ There, she fights like thunder, and speaks as their Leader… and is mine. _

** At that, his wife threw him a fond, tolerant glance.  **

_ Oh, go throw bolts at something. _

** Dropping his hand from his beard, Zeus eyed her with interest. **

_ As you wish, my dear. And what will you do? _

** Hera remained, thoughtful.  **

_ I will watch it all unfold. _

***

Tara trailed her fingers over the brass peacock censer. She had never seen it before. It was like it had appeared out of nowhere on the lone plinth to the right of the walkway, sort of equidistant between front door and the counter of the Magic Box. “Where did this come from, Anya? It’s giving off serious Hera vibes.”

Anya waved it off without even looking. “I don’t know. New shipment. Please be quiet. I’m trying to locate thirty-seven dollars and forty-two cents your girlfriend lost in between receipts number twenty-three and twenty-four…”

Tara lightly touched the censer again before pulling away to move firmly past it. She had to work hard to shake off the serious buzz the thing was giving her. It was necessary. She needed to clear her aura and reset if she was going to pull in the right Hecate vibe she would need in order to do the full two-hour session of palmistry and tarot she had agreed on for Mr. Giles. There was a sign-up sheet and everything, and customers were going to start coming in for their fifteen-minute sessions in a half hour. Which, if it went well, it might turn into a regular gig… and part of her was freaked thinking of what her famil…

/No. I’m not, because what they think doesn’t matter. My  _ real _ family here thinks it’s awesome, what I can do;  _ and, _ I’m  _ contributing _ . I can actually start to make a  _ living _ doing this, if I get popular enough, which is…/ 

What a crazy thought. 

Shaking her head slightly, she headed for the little table with its midnight-blue velvet cloth decorated with the standard celestial motif, over in the corner by the smaller window. She’d have a little privacy, of course, and five-minute breaks between sessions to clear her own aura, because really, that was what you actually did in these things. The cards just gave you hints, things to jump off of. Same with the palms. It was really all about reading the auras, which…

“…Can ruddy well back off, Slayer. I haven’t been sampling and you bloody well know it! I can’t!”

/Oh, Goddess, not again./ 

Tara sighed. The tight pain in Spike’s voice as he protested his innocence of whatever latest crime Buffy was laying at his door was tough to hear; but worse was the way it sent jags of unspent emotion through his aura. Humiliation, rage, and a strange, pained, strangled sort of yearning that made her ache in response as it flooded her being. It was so strong, lately, that out of nowhere these days it even drowned out his usual vibe of anger-lust-frustration-bone-deep-hunger. It was…

It wasn’t anything she needed to be feeling right now, just before a reading.

With a sigh, Tara ran a quick chakra meditation, almost by reflex, to ground herself and shield. /I don’t know why I don’t just do it automatically whenever I leave the dorm. It’s safer./

“Oh, right; I forgot. Poor Spikey, the broken vampire. Can’t hunt, can’t fight the Slayer… can’t even nibble…” Voice full of biting snark, Buffy trailed a finger along her collarbone, just slightly. It was a strangely unconscious move; like something she barely noticed she was doing, and okay, wow. What kind of mood was  _ Buffy _ in? 

Tara had seen those little guilty jags of… almost sexual attraction around Spike before, though she’d never dared to remotely suggest such a thing, even to Willow… but this was downright  _ daring _ the vampire. But in a cruel way, which, just… 

“I could hit you, and you couldn’t hit back. I could beat you down, and all you could do was lay there and beg for more…”

It was weird, too, because in the last few days, ever since Buffy had found out her mother was sick, she’d been acting weirdly… almost nice to Spike. Well, not  _ nice _ , per se, but at least less… directly cruel, which was kind of a lot easier to be around. 

Which, by the way, the vampire had been eating up, in a sort of cautious way that had made Tara more than a little suspicious about Spike’s motivations when it came to hanging around their group. Last year he’d been all about undermining the Scoobies from within, but lately…

Lately she was really starting to think that maybe Spike might… Well. Have some feelings in a certain direction. Which was kind of heresy in this particular group, since most of them didn’t even believe demons could  _ have _ said types of emotions. That they weren’t even capable; but Tara knew different. For one thing, she could feel them rolling off of this one in particular, which kind of proved that whole theory wrong. 

Not that any of them would believe her. If there was one thing Tara had learned growing up, it was not to argue with people when they firmly believed something about a group they hated. That way lay pain and hurt and possibly being cast out of the fold. She couldn’t risk it.

“You’re walkin’ a fine bloody line, Slayer,” the irked vampire hissed, and a twisted rage exploded through his aura, just behind a fine curtain of thrumming lust held desperately in check. “Whatsa matter, huh? Soldier-boy not gettin’ you off right?”

Buffy’s aura went through a sharp revolution, did a little agonized dance… and then her energy went through the roof. “You’re a pig, Spike,” she accused, snappishly.

Tara blushed, turning away. “Oh,” she whispered to herself.

“What, Baby?” Willow asked, having just now sidled into the room, unheard over the tiffing going on mid-store.

“Oh. Uh… nothing.” /Just… Buffy’s totally sexually deprived in her relationship with Riley, and deep inside she really wants Spike, but she can’t admit it to herself. And I don’t wanna know the things I know from reading people./

Spike, of course, came back at Buffy with sparkling eyes. “What’s wrong, Slayer? I hit a nerve?”

/Oh, Goddess…/

“Spike, I swear to God, I will break your nose if you don’t…”

“Nothing new there, pet. It’s alright. Take it all out on ol’ Spike. Mum’s ill, can’t talk to Captain Cardboard about it, talk to Spike. Not gettin’ enough action in the cemeteries of late to feel alive… or in bed, sounds like? Take it out on me, luv. I’m right here…” He twitched his fingers and crouched. “Ready to dance.”

“You’re really asking to end up on your ass again, is what it is…”

Tara wondered if maybe she should go outside and do a quick meditation. Build up a better shield before...

“Give it your best shot, Slayer. Think you’ll find I’m not as easy as you’d expect.”

“Oh, you’re  _ easy _ , Spike. I could have you flat on your back before I could say ‘stake’.”

/Oh, jeez./

“Oho! Want me on my back, is it?”

/Goddess, how am I gonna do readings with these two just…  _ poking _ at each other like this?/

“Uh…” Willow murmured, sounding startled, “what’s with the, um,  _ vibe _ in here today?”

Instinct prickled. Tara turned to glance briefly at the peacock censer. It was just cheap brass, a few whorls for stylized feathers… but she had never seen it before today; and she could swear that right now it  _ glowed _ .

***

_ So…what’s up? Watching something good?  
_ _  
_ ** Hera ignored Hermes’ interruption. Zeus, however, draped an arm over the younger God’s shoulder and nodded downward.  **

_ Quite the interesting bit of repartee. You should remain. No doubt you’d find it… enjoyable. And… _

** A brief glance at his wife’s entrenched position.  ** _ You might add something to the entertainment. _

** Hermes cocked his head to listen in. As the barbs flew, his mouth began to quirk, then to widen in growing glee.  **

_ Oh. These two are delightful. My, my… let me just go fetch a stool… _

** He glanced back the way he had come as he took his seat in the front row of the now-gathering assemblage of interested deities.  **

_ Artemis.  _ ** He nodded to his half-sister.  ** _ How goes it? _

** The Queen of all those who Hunt in the Night watched the scene below like a stooping hawk. Her eyes glittered. **

_ They are both Hunters… but she is MINE. I have yet to decide how I feel about this. He is… her rightful prey. _

** Hermes smiled slyly.  ** _ Yes, this sort of thing steps a little over the line for you, doesn’t it, hon? _

** Artemis reacted with the speed of a hunter. **

** Hermes, though, was quicksilver, and leaned back to allow the silver arrow to pass harmlessly in front of his eyes; tipped his winged cap to her in salute.  **

_ Your aim is, as always, exquisite, my dear. _

** Artemis growled in his general direction.  **

_ I was  _ aiming _ for your throat. _

** Hermes let that pass without comment, turning instead to Zeus. **

_ But where is ‘Dite? She’s bound to have a stake in this one. _

** Hera’s mouth tightened slightly, but she nodded in acquiescence.  **

_ I suppose we must. How she has missed it thus far is beyond me. She must be… otherwise engaged. Will you send her a message, Hermes? _

** Head still cocked to listen to the battle going on below, Hermes chuckled, nodded. **

_ Delighted, my Queen. _

** Pulling out his cellular phone—the newest kind, a Blackberry, with the full keyboard—Hermes began to text feverishly. He was a proponent and enthusiastic user of all the new and in-vogue forms of communication in use by humankind. How could he not be? So swift they were, these instant- and text-messaging systems, so filled with flippant ease and clever linguistic shorthand. **

_ ‘were u @ Dite? cum ovr here quik, sumthng going dwn, rite up yr alley’ _

** (He had also gotten a car, as they had come off the line. A Mercury, of course.) **

** Zeus looked over his shoulder before he hit ‘send’, chuckled over his use of the vernacular, its tongue-in-cheek double entendres. **

** Hermes smirked back, punched the button, closed the device, and returned his attention to the theater going on below. And with a faint grin, twiddled his fingers with a lazy, sassy twist. **

_ Only fair that I’ve a token in the game as well, yes? _

** Hera gave a sniff of theatrical disgust, and continued to watch over the developing verbal brawl, which had picked up in speed and, it must be said, developed a significantly more sophisticated panache in the quipping department in the last few minutes, since Hermes’ arrival. **

***

A crowd had also begun to gather in the Magic Box. Xander, first, wandering in from the back to stand behind Anya where she had long-since ceased counting receipts to turn her attention to the free show turning her place of business into a verbal boxing ring. 

“Uh, what’s up, guys?”

“Clearly there’s a debate going on, Xander,” Anya put in blandly. But even she was now staring in what counted for her as amazement, while on the floor the insults flew fast and thick and laced with clearly-emerging innuendo.

“Well, uh, yeah; sure. You know, that’s standard, but… uh…”

The bell over the door rang. The sound was lost in the hubbub. Giles edged in, blinking, and trailed his fingers lightly over the plinth with the brass peacock. Then, shaking his head, he lightly touched a smaller brass tortoise standing beside it. “When did…” he began, then lifted his eyes to take in the shock and awe going on in the center of his store. “Good Lord, what on Earth…”

“…Done measuring the length of your… equipment…”

“Ha! That’s bloody funny coming from you, Slayer, seeing as all you’ve done since you met me was to wave your stake about and tell me how soddin’ big it is and how quick you’ll use it to do me in!”

“Oh. Right, Mr. 'I Just Like Weapons, They Make Me Feel All Manly’. But we all know you’re premature. Couldn’t even wait till Saturday…”

“Well,” Spike abruptly subsided with a slow grin, and scanned her up and down, “you’re a right piece, aren’t you, Slayer. Couldn’t wait to dance with you, could I?” The grin broadened. “Not after I got all hot and bothered watching you go it alone…”

Buffy straightened, glaring. “I might as well have been dancing alone, with how bad your stupid lackey was at fighting…”

“Didn’t mean in the alley, luv. Meant on the floor. Watched you in the Bronze. Had this lot in there with you, but you were all alone… and powerful in it. Didn’t bloody well care, did you? Felt your power and threw it at every one of us. Threw it right in my face; a great soddin’ challenge, and you thought I’d wait to throw myself back at you?”

“What are you… Spike, you watched me  _ dance? _ You’re sick!”

He smiled and shrugged it off. “I was hunting.”

“What is even happening right now?” Xander demanded of no one and everyone. 

Tara might have told him, except by this point she was as lost as he was. 

Feeling a tingling draw her gaze, she glanced over at the plinth… and gave a start. A spear and a shield had appeared atop the column, each leaning against the brass bird and tortoise. 

They looked at any moment ready to fall into one another; a collision of arms.

***

** Ares chuckled with glee, and rubbed his great, callused hands together. **

_ This is fabulous. Any moment, they’re going to draw blood.  _

** Athena punched him hard in the arm.  **

_ Leave it, cousin, for once! She is a protector, not a... _

** Ares threw back his head and laughed heartily. **

_ Ha! Nonsense! That one lives as much for the glee of battle, the flash of blood as the other, much as she might wish to deny it... _

** Athena stepped back, toned and taut with spear at the ready and shield raised. **

_ She fights for those who cannot protect themselves. She is MINE! _

** On the verge of open battle, the two war-gods squared off, prepared to take up immortal strife over the ownership of a being built to serve. Ares had ceased laughing, readied his warrior’s body to fling himself, naked but for sword, greaves, and helmet, wholly into the fray. **

_ She loses herself in the drawing of blood. She is one of MINE; a berserker, caught in the lust of the strike. She wants him because she heeds the pounding of flesh, the drive of life in the midst of death, the… _

** Zeus stepped in, held up a hand. **

_ Enough. Let it be said that she belongs to both of you, and it depends only on which face she turns to the fight in a moment. Peace; and share this one, children. _

** Glaring, the combatants subsided. No one gainsaid the father of the Gods. **

** A dulcet voice rang then, cutting between them. **

_ Can’t we all just get along? Come now. _

** Stepping between the two, Aphrodite patted her fellow Goddess’ shoulder, caressed an escaped wisp of hair back into her helmeted coiffure, then turned to her sometimes-lover and smiled, cupping his cheek. **

_ Ares, think on this. You and I share the other. If you can share him with  _ me _ , who is both berserker and the greatest of lovers, then tell me how you cannot share a protector and berserker, when the time comes. Know you that all warriors are both, when necessity calls. _

** With a sigh, Ares grumbled, nuzzled into her hand, briefly tamed of his bloodlust.  **

_ As am I. But… She wishes also to take, and possess, the other. And he has been mine since… _

_ Hush. You can share him as well, Beloved; with the both of us. Now. Watch the show unfold. I have long awaited this moment. Do not steal it from me. _

** His eyes glowed up at hers.  **

_ As you wish, Beloved Aphrodite. _

***

Tara covered her eyes, then peered between her fingers. And groaned. A bloom had very abruptly appeared, right in between the warlike implements; a ferociously crimson rose, twining with measured determination around a small, silver-filigree mirror.

She watched in slow motion as first the spear, then the shield toppled to lie pointing away from one another, on their sides. “Oh, Goddess…” she whispered. 

It was all over now. Just a matter of time, and then…

/Well, at least the vibe’ll be better when my first customer gets in here./

“Only a sick  _ vampire _ would call it hunting when he comes into a club and starts… just  _ watching _ someone… dance, and then… comes charging into a fight a day later, and…”

“Comes back again and again, Slayer? What can I say? Like the dance better than I like the idea of killin’ you. Somethin’ about the way you move… The way you smell… The way you feel up against me when you…”

Buffy hooked his leg. He fell back, grinning, palms to the floor. “…Do that.” He swept a kick of his own, knocking both her legs very abruptly out from under her. 

She fell right on top of him. “If I’m a pig,” he demanded then, “why you rollin’ in the mud, Slayer?” And he jerked his hips pointedly up, and oh, Goddess, his  _ energy _ …

And  _ hers _ , and Tara needed to pull her shields up hard, she needed them up  _ now,  _ because Buffy had her eyes closed and her mouth open, and…

“What is  _ happening?” _ Xander demanded, sharp and shocked.

“You’re sick,” Buffy breathed, but she really didn’t sound like she meant it anymore.

“Says the chit who has a fever right now…” Spike answered triumphantly.

Maybe Tara could do her readings somewhere else. Like, in Oregon.

“Let go of me, or I’ll shove my whole fist in your mouth, you… prick!”

“Prick, is it?” Spike rolled his hips once more, and really, they should  _ all _ just leave. 

“Oh, God, are they actually gonna…”

Tara could have told Xander there was no way it wasn’t going to happen, at this point. The Gods had taken a hand. 

“Go on, Slayer. Do something about it.”

Confusion reigned briefly in Buffy’s aura, her voice. “I’m in a relationship…”

Spike barked a laugh. “So’m I. So, shove… somethin’ in my mouth and prance off with your virtue…”

The moment hung on an explosive pin…

And dropped. And Buffy was kissing him, and Spike was up so that they had slammed together, and Xander was swinging around to bury his face in Anya’s hair like he couldn’t stand to bear witness, and moaning something like, “Oh, God, I can’t watch this,” and clearly the Gods had tired of seeing their Champions at war, and wanted a very specific kind of peace. And Giles was polishing his glasses and making choking noises, and Willow was clinging to Tara’s arm and staring in amazement…

Tara took her love’s arm and turned her. Pointed at the plinth.

In the peacock censer, a tiny flame had kindled, all by itself, and was burning, merry and blue, over nothing at all. And beneath it, the very small rose had grown into a vast bloom, shading all the other items beneath its umbra.

And then the bell rang over the door, and the first of Tara’s customers came in, to stare at the desperate couple on the floor, currently reenacting Paris and Helen over a modern-day Troy-under-siege. She tilted her head, lifted a brow, and said, “Huh. Why do I feel like I’m seeing the end of a war, instead of the beginning of one?”

Tara smiled at the woman, and held out a hand. “I think… maybe you are, this time. C’mon. Step right past the display. I’m sure they’ll be gone soon. We’ll be over here.” 

***

** The gathered company of Gods broke into startled, unaffected applause.  **

_ Well!  _ ** Hermes exclaimed, and swung around, rebel that he was, to plant a messy, moist, and boisterous kiss first on the coiffed temple of the Goddess of Love and then, while her eyes sparkled at him in amusement and affection, swung ‘round to do the same to the Queen of the Gods, in congratulation.  **

** Hera eyed him in stern warning. With a mischievous grin he held up both hands, nimbly twirled his caduceus, and offered a florid bow instead. He came up smiling. **

_ My Queen, congratulations. A most splendid showing. Magnificent. I am, as ever, grateful to lend a hand in any one of your endeavors. _

** Hera tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment of his assistance and felicitations. **

_ Indeed, my Queen…  _ ** Aphrodite offered a small bow to her fellow Goddess.  ** _ It was well done, I think. I am grateful to have, in this case, worked at your side to have finally plucked this splinter from beneath both our nails. _

** Hera tilted her head once more in agreement.  **

_ All will be easier, from now on.  _ ** Aphrodite stated with confidence. **

_ Yes. _

** Ares made a rumbling sound.  **

_ But so much lost to the fight… _

_ And… what if he breaks faith?  _ ** Athena demanded, not quite mollified.  ** _ What if she lets down her guard, and the Children of Night overcome the Children of Sun, and… _

** Aphrodite lifted her hand to forestall all concerns, laid a loving hand to Athena’s cheek.  **

_ Peace, sister. He is mine. He has been since before he was a Son of Night. He will heel well to her cause. And as to your concerns, Beloved… they both have the need to battle. They will channel this urge as one.  _

** She took Ares’ arm.  **

_ All will be well. _

** Ares subsided in his grumbling, turning puppyish to her touch.  **

** They pivoted to depart together. **

** The others watched them go and then, with a last few glances down at the scene below, began to prize their accouterments from the arena atop Olympus and depart.  **

** It had been a lovely show, and a fine distraction from the monotonous concerns of the modern day. But they had others to see to.  **

** As the mountaintop went silent, Zeus turned to the thrones sitting in pride of place at the utmost height of the crag. **

_ My love… _

** Hera remained, looking down at what she had wrought, fingering her lip in concern. **

** Zeus swept in, gathered up his lovely wife, pulled her into his arms.  **

_ Worry not. It was exquisitely done.  _

** When her eyes remained trained below, her brow furrowed and unconvinced, he bowed her over his forearm and, daring a right cross, planted a kiss on her lips. **

_ Dance with me? _

** Attention caught away from the couple writhing below, Hera regarded him with a very put on expression of tolerant affection, rolled her eyes, sighed heavily.  **

_ Oh… you’re an old fool. But… just this once, in celebration of this day… I’ll dance with you once more. _

**Zeus held her to him.  
  
**_Then I am, indeed, blessed among all the Gods.  
  
_**  
  
FIN  
  
  
  
  
  
**  
(Oh well. I'll just call it my Olympian Offering this quarter, since I can't do my usual devotionals due to social distancing. IO Olympus!  
Thanks all, for reading my bit of random fluffery.  
Side-note, and speaking of devotionals: my Lord Dionysus and his other side of the coin, the Lord Apollo, didn't show up here to discuss ownership of our duo because... If I got into _that_ , this tale would NOT have been at all fluffy, lol)


End file.
